"I suppose there are people who can pass up free guacamole, but they're either allergic to avocado or too joyless to live."— Frank Bruni

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

subway shuffle

This video and its narration are excellent. I often did that exact same shuffle when passing through the 34th St station.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

happy snacks

Here are some new finds from our latest Wegman's haul:


  • Holy seltzer! We bought 7 bottles, but it would have been more if G didn't stop me. I usually get about 4 bottles of their usual lineup of flavors, primarily pomegranate, cranberry lime and grapefruit. This visit, however, presented us with a surprise of Polar's 'Destination Flavors.' I've tried their ginger lemonade flavor from this line, but the ones you see above are new and exciting: Orange Mango, Pineapple Passion Fruit and Pina Colada (which is really good). G finds it amazing that the seltzer tastes and smells like its indicated flavor, yet has no calories nor is it sticky when spilled! Just fantastic. Seltzer water weened me from soda years ago, and I'm glad to see new flavors of it. HuffPost ran a sensory test of the new summer flavors; go here to read it.
  • There on the bottom is what is left of my wedge of Fol Epi cheese. It's tasty and creamy, and has holes of a Swiss cheese, but is a bit sweeter; a really nice, mild snacking cheese. I first tried it at Trader Joe's when it was the featured cheese for the month of June, and was elated to find it in the never-fail cheese section at Weggy's. It's my new fav, after snacking on Le Jeune Autise for a couple months.
  • The last item up above is our new fav chip: Crisproot Cassava Root Thai Ginger chips. They are super crispy, not oily, extremely flavorful, and are ridged. If cassava root were to chips as potatoes are, I'd be one happy snacker. It makes a significantly crunchier chip.

Saturday, July 07, 2012

current state

MY GOD, THE HEAT!
Today's heat index has reached 107 degrees. I have no intention on going outside for the rest of the day, which is good because I've now got time to do some online modules for work and spend some time on this here blog. Despite being indoors though, I still feel listless. (My sympathies to those who still don't have power after last week's storm. Shit was cray-cray.)


Since I haven't done a list in forever, here's one on the current state of things around these parts:

:: THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS ::

  • Worst weather ever: Right now, in those pink and red zones. I never understand people who claim "I'd rather have it really hot than really cold." Excuse them, for they know not what they say. 
  • Top recipe to try from my list of recipes to try: Mario Batali's Linguine with Jalapeno Pesto. Never mind that it made an appearance on the Rachael Ray show. It looks and sounds delicious and is from the brain of Mario Batali (not a fan of the man, but he knows his food).
  • Best new addition to our household: The Zojirushi NS-ZCC18 10-cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker. Not only does it have a name that's half supercharged and half cute, but with its programmable settings for different types of rice, it makes brown rice fluffy. Thanks to everyone who gave us money for our wedding; we put it to good use.
  • Best thing to watch on t.v. tomorrow (Sunday, 8 July): Roger vs. Andy. Hands down! What a match-up! Of course, I'm elated that Roger made it to the finals. I will not listen to those who say "it may be his last one!" I'm sorry to have seen Rafa eliminated so early, as the two of them make up my favorite sports rivalry of all time. And Andy! That poor chap! He finally made it to a Wimbledon final match, but alas, I will have to root for this continued streak of not winning a single slam. Every summer, I think of how lucky we are to not only be living, but living in the era of Roger and Rafa, and yeah, maybe even Djokovich.

  • Best beverage I've had in recent days: Red Onion's Chocolate Malt. Sorry no picture, just know that it was delicious. Not so malty, but tasty nonetheless.

(photo creds: 12, 3, 4 was a screenshot of this)

Monday, July 02, 2012

beginner korean

Here are some Korean dishes I cooked for the first time, in the last month and a half:



Up on top you have some pajeon (파전). I forgot to add kimchee into the batter at first, so only some are reddish. The pajeon came out a little gummier than I wanted, so I'll have to work on the mix : water ratio. I had some metric unit conversion problems.

Down on the bottom you have some excellent naengmyeon (냉면),topped with sliced cucumber and kimchee. This was a winner and forehead-slapper; how could I not have had this in my warm weather rotation already?